Shattered Sky/Chapter 15
Chapter description :Twigpaw stumbles across a clearing, feeling exhausted. She wonders if she'll ever find her way home, or if she'll ever find her kin. Her stomach's growling tells her she should hunt, but she is too weak to do so. The day before, she acted cute so she could get food, but it had made her feel sick for the rest of the day. She tries to remember when she last ate real prey, yet all the days seem to blur together. When she was hit on the Thunderpath, she opened her eyes to find herself in a Twoleg den, where a Twoleg was forcing down white pebbles into her mouth. One day she ran away, and she is now searching for the yellow barn Alderheart had in his vision, yet she has no idea where she is. After some searching, Twigpaw finally finds the barn, but there is nothing there, aside from a faint scent of cats. The SkyClan cats might've been there, but they had moved on. She tries to follow the trail of their scent, but it's too faint and it soon fades out altogether. :Twigpaw is starting to fall asleep when a gray tom with blue eyes urges her to get up. She insists that she can't, that it's too late, that she messed everything up. The tom says that it's not too late, and that she should look for the blood trail, and to follow it until she could see the circle of the sun. Twigpaw forces herself to obey, even though she is thoroughly exhausted. The forest she wanders through is thick, and any view of the sun she has is blocked by crisscrossing branches, making it impossible to get a clear view. :The branches start to thin out, and she races forward, hope propelling her. However, the sun has already disappeared from her view and Twigpaw believes she has failed. She then realizes that the ground drops away in a cliff, and she sees the sun, barely peeking out over the horizon. The fluffy gray she-cat wonders what she had to do next, seeing that she did what the tom in her dream said. Then she sees a flash of gray, and Twigpaw scrambles down the cliffside to see tons of cats making a camp by a stream. She hurtles herself down the cliff without any thought of her safety. Her meow alerts cats, who form a defensive crowd. Twigpaw is shocked how by how they are so skinny, and that they look worse than she did. :She spots a white she-cat close to kitting, with a larger tom next to her. Three young cats, around Twigpaw's age, stare at her with fear and curiosity. At last, the tom that looks like the she-cat asks who she is, while another asked what did she want. Twigpaw apologizes for scaring them, and asks if they are SkyClan. Cats exchange glances and one replies that they are the remains of SkyClan. A brown-and-cream tabby steps forward, and with dignity in her pose she replies that they had lost many friends, but that they are SkyClan. The eager apprentice replies that she is Twigpaw, and that she comes from ThunderClan. The SkyClan cats immediately drop their suspicion and become excited. One exclaims that they've been searching for ThunderClan for moons. Cats trip over their words in their excitement, and one says that Echosong had a vision, saying that the fire had burned out but that they should find the spark that remains. The tabby who spoke to Twigpaw earlier purrs, saying they knew the fire had to be the great leader Firestar. She then pauses with a look of sadness in her eyes, and asks for confirmation of his death. :Other cats start crowding in on Twigpaw, telling her about Firestar, saying he came with a brave she-cat, and he showed them how to hunt, live by the warrior code and that they taught their kits about him and that they would honor him forever. Twigpaw, who never knew the great, flame-colored leader, says Echosong's vision was correct, and that Firestar was truly dead. The Clan's enthusiasm fade by a bit, and the tabby asks how he died. Twigpaw says he died in a great battle, and that she wasn't born then, but ThunderClan also honored his memory. The she-cat asks who the leader of ThunderClan was now, and the apprentice answers that the leader is named Bramblestar, and that he is a great cat as well. The tabby nods, and introduces herself properly as Leafstar, saying that she knew Firestar when he rebuilt the Clan, and requested that Twigpaw take them back to her camp. The apprentice bows her head, honored, but she isn't sure of the way back. :After a moment, the tom that looks like Twigpaw introduces himself as Hawkwing, and Leafstar explains that he is the deputy of SkyClan, and that his father, Sharpclaw was the deputy that Firestar knew, and was killed by rogues that attacked them and drove them out of the gorge. She says they found a body of water that they thought was the water in Echosong's dream, but Twolegs interrupted them, and they left. Twigpaw glances at the tom, and wonders if he is from her dream, and rejects that idea because the tom had blue eyes, and Hawkwing has amber eyes, just like Violetpaw. The deputy asks where Twigpaw's Clanmates are, if she's alone, and why she's come so far. The gray apprentice is overwhelmed, and struggles to explain, but she describes the situation back home, which is that a group of rogues have settled by the lake. They are led by Darktail, and this surprises Leafstar and Hawkwing. The latter is shocked that Darktail is on their territory, and Twigpaw clarifies that ThunderClan's medicine cat Alderheart had a vision about SkyClan, and tried to help, but got to the gorge too late. He was fooled into thinking Darktail was the leader, until he found out. The cats who went with Alderheart on his journey, quickly left, but the rogues somehow managed to follow them and started attacking Clan cats. :The leader and her deputy exchange looks, then Hawkwing announces that they do need to be by the lake. Leafstar asks the apprentice if she saw the gorge, and she replies that no, she was too young, and that Alderheart found her and Violetpaw on his way home. Twigpaw says that she and her sister were very young, and that it seemed like their mother had abandoned them. A gray she-cat asks who would do that, and the she-cat, defensive, says that she thinks her mother didn't mean to, and that her Clan thought she was hit by a monster on the Thunderpath. Twigpaw pauses before saying that Alderheart had another vision, and that he saw the gray tom, who looked exactly like her, and that she had to find Hawkwing and know if there is any chance. Hawkwing has a stricken look in his eyes, and he responds that her mother must've died, because there was no way Pebbleshine would have ever left her kits. He says he knows because the speckled queen was his mate. The fluffy gray apprentice looks at him with her heart beating fast, and hardly dares to ask, yet does. The dark gray tom confirms that yes, he is her father, and nuzzles her. :Twigpaw leads the SkyClan cats near a stream through a dense forest, with a hill in front of them. She hopes that she will be able to find the lake, as three sunrises had passed since she found the starving cats, and they are lost. Sagenose asks if the gray she-cat knew where she was going, and Twigpaw, frustrated, sighs that no, she is not sure, but she thinks they are in the right direction. The tabby tom flicks his tail and inquires if anyone is concerned that the apprentice didn't come here on ThunderClan's will, but rather her own. Twigpaw looks helplessly at her father, wondering if the SkyClan cats will refuse to follow her home. Hawkwing shoulders his way past the cats and tells the warrior that his daughter will lead them to ThunderClan, and that they've discussed this. Cats begin to crowd around the two toms to see how the argument unfolds. Sparrowpelt also confronts Sagenose and says they've come so far, wandering for moons after they lost their medicine cat. The silver she-cat said to follow the blood trail, and that led them to the apprentice Twigpaw. :Sagenose glares at his Clanmate, snapping that they still won't know if they're welcome. The deputy interrupts him, saying he felt it was meant to be this way, and Sagenose hisses that of course he'd feel that way, because Twigpaw was his daughter. Leafstar, clearly annoyed, throws herself in the middle of the argument, saying enough, and that she has decided to follow Twigpaw and that they will follow because she is their leader. She turns her attention to the pale tabby tom and asks him if he wants to be part of the Clan. He sounds hurt, and answers of course he does. The brown-and-cream tabby then meows that there will be no further arguments. Twigpaw confidently strides out to lead the cats, but now she feels uncomfortable, because she doesn't know of her ability to even find ThunderClan, and doesn't know if they'll accept her when she gave them a fright by running away. :She leads them up over the hill and expects to see the Thunderpath where she and her sister, Violetpaw, were born, but instead she finds a slope covered with clumps of bushes and ferns, which give way to a dense forest. The leader asks if everything's all right, and Twigpaw, not wanting to give out that she had no idea where they were, hastily confirms that she's fine. Leafstar decides to set camp for the night, and Twigpaw sleeps restlessly, and the SkyClan cats set off the following morning. They find a Thunderpath, and Hawkwing asks if they have to cross it. The apprentice nods, hoping this was the Thunderpath they had to cross to find the lake. They wait until Leafstar gives the order, then dash across, making it in time. Tinycloud, a white queen, asks where they go next, and if it's much farther. Twigpaw desperately hopes it isn't, and points to a spot in the woods. :They follow her and make their way into a clearing, with a cluster of rocks made out of wood, with the scent of Twolegs. Plumwillow is shocked by how Twolegs live near their territory too,, and her mate, Sandynose, says that Twolegs are everywhere. Twigpaw finds this spot unfamiliar, but suddenly remembers how Alderheart told her of his journey to the gorge, and how they stopped at a greenleaf Twolegplace to eat Twoleg food, and realizes that this was the same Twolegplace. She tells the brown tom that they don't have much farther to go, and soon they come across a steep ridge, covered with grass and gorse, with rocks jutting out here and there. Tinycloud, who is pregnant and exhausted, asks if they have to climb it, and the Twigpaw replies that yes, they do, but they are very close to the ThunderClan camp. Leafstar, as leader, takes the lead as cats make their way up the slope, slowly but surely. Sparrowpelt and Hawkwing help the small white she-cat, and as they come to the top, the apprentice lets a yowl of happiness. She points out the lake, and the horseplace, and says that even though they can't see it, the ThunderClan camp is down there too. The deputy gives his kit a lick on her ear, and says he's glad Alderheart decided to take her and Violetpaw in, and the gray she-cat purrs her agreement. Characters Major *Hawkwing }} Minor *Leafstar *Unnamed gray she-cat *Sagenose *Sparrowpelt *Tinycloud *Plumwillow *Sandynose }} Mentioned *Echosong *Bramblestar *Sharpclaw *Violetpaw *Darktail *Alderheart *Pebbleshine }} Notes and references Category:Chapter subpages Category:Shattered Sky Category:A Vision of Shadows arc